Prayer Resource Pack: Haftarah Blessings

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Grades: 4-7

311 Pages

The Haftarah Blessing Prayer Resource Pak includes a series of activities designed to help you create class sessions in which students master the Torah Blessings. Whether you use them in class or as part of an online session, these resources offer you the tools you need to teach Haftarah Blessings. You will find the following learning resources:

• The Prayer: Three full versions of Haftarah Blessing with both Hebrew and English translations. Each version is targeted to the liturgy of a different movement.

• Reading/Recitation Drill: A series of reading/recitation practice exercises that include phrases, and games for students to play with a colleague.

• Language Elements: Introduction of the root words and other language elements

• Translation Opportunities. Using icons and English clues, students work to create their own English translations of the prayer. The whole prayer is included with versions of the prayer represented where movements made changes in the liturgy.

• Display Versions. Decorative versions of the prayer in both portrait and landscape to project on a wall in class or screen share during online sessions. All four versions of the prayer are available.

• Word Flashcards: There are three sets of flashcards included in this set of materials.

• Vocabulary Icon Posters:  There are three sets of Vocabulary Icon Posters included, as well as a list of vocabulary icons and words.

 

Using these Resources

Consider the Haftarah Blessing Prayer Resource Pak as your tool chest to create sessions, whether in class or online.

A note about online use. These pages can be used to project as a screen share or to print copies for student use. Based on experience, please don’t assume that if you email pages to parents that they will print them out at home. You are far better off creating a packet of those pages you want to use for a series of sessions that can be mailed home or parents can pick up at the school.

 

Here are some quick ideas:

Prayer Reading (Pages 6–15)

• Use the prayer as an out-of-the-book or siddur reading exercise, or as a way for students to do reading/recitation practice at home.

• Cut the prayer into strips and separate Hebrew from English. Have students match Hebrew phrases with their English translations.

• Page 12. Compare the different versions of the prayer.

Prayer Reading Practice (Pages 16–20):

These reading/sounding practices and reading games can be used as small group activities that allow you to circulate through the room and work with individual students on their reading/recitation skills.

• Page 16: Assign students to practice and perfect phrases and recite them as part of your class experience.

• Page 17: Ask students to fill in a missing word. This can be done as a group or as a homework assignment and reviewed with the whole class. There are three versions of this activity that represent the three different versions of the prayer.

• Page 18: Point and Read. A Student closes his or her eyes and chooses a word to read. If they read the word correctly, they receive the points on the penguin.

• Pages 19: A Reading Game. Students can play together on this reading board game. You will need a spinner and some markers for students to play.

• Page 20: Sing to the Highest Notes: Students read words as quickly as possible from bottom to top. The student with the most accuracy and the quickest time wins.

Language Elements (Pages 21–26):

Roots and language elements are a useful tool in helping students understand the Hebrew of the prayers. Using these and the translation pages help student make the Hebrew meaningful. See a description of elements on page 3 of this introduction.

Translations (Pages 27–39):

We are asking students to make meaning of the Hebrew by translating the Hebrew of the prayer. You may have to help them massage the words into coherent sentences. The complete prayer in pieces for all variations of the prayer are included.

Flashcards and Vocabulary Posters (Pages 53–311):

Use the flashcards and vocabulary posters to practice reading and build vocabulary.

• 8₁⁄” x 3₂⁄” Flashcards can be printed on card stock. You can use them to drill reading by showing the cards and asking students to “read” the words, or with a variety of games.

• Around the World. Have students sit in a circle. Choose two students. Hold up a flashcard and the student who says the word first moves on to compete against the next person. The goal is to get all the way around the circle and back to the student’s original spot.

• Find a Word. Post a group of words on the board or around the room. Say a word. The first student who finds the gets a point.

• Slap. Layout the flashcards on the table face up. Call out a specific word. Students competing against each other slap the right card. The first student to slap it gets a point!

• 4₁⁄” x 5₁⁄” Vocabulary cards will print on card stock or Avery 4-up postcards. Two ideas for using these postcards.

• Find a Word: Post a group of words on the board or around the room. Say a word. The first student who finds the gets a point.

• Charades: Break the class into teams. A member of one of the teams gets a Vocabulary postcard and has to act out the word in some way. The team gets a point if someone on that team identifies the word correctly.

• 11” x 8₁⁄” Flashcards and  8₁⁄” x 11” Vocabulary Posters can be printed on card stock or projected as a screen share during an online session. Use them to create word walls or drill them with students.

• 3₁⁄” x 2” Flashcards and Vocabulary Card Decks will print on card stock or on any of the Avery business cards. In small groups, students can use these cards to practice, organize the words of the prayer in order, or categorize words by similarities. This size is also perfect to send home for drill. The Vocabulary Card Decks (page 165–170) are set up to print two-sided with the icon and Hebrew on the front and an English translation on the back.

We hope you find these materials useful in planning and teaching the Haftarah Blessing in your classrooms and in online settings. We invite your questions and comments at  [email protected]

When you purchase this Resource Pack you will be provided with a link to download it. Make as many copies as you need for your school and only your school. Materials that are downloaded are not returnable.